Article holder



Jan. 6, 1942. M. L. P. HAGERTY- ARTICLE-3 HOLDER Filed June 13, 1959 HHHHH IHHH Ill! lilll ll known.

Patented Jan. 6, 1942 UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFF-ICE 2,268,934 7 ARTICLE HOLDER Michael L. P. HagertyQD etroit, Mich. Applicationlune 13, 19.29, Serial ,No. 278,933 1Claim. (or 206- 38) This invention relates, in general, to article holders and, in particulanto a. new and-improved holder for matches and cigarettes or cigars.

Oneof the objects of this invention is'toprovide a new and improved holder for matches and 1 5 cigarettes orcigars which issturdy and re-usable and which is simpler in construction; cl'ieaper. in cost and of greater utility than holders of the .same character at present in use ornotherwise Another object is to improve a container for cigarettes or cigars whereby-a packet of matches may be .more readily assembled to and'thereafter more securely held bysaid container than heretofore. 1 515 Another object is to improv a, container for a package of cigarettes or cigars whereby said cigarettes :or cigars are .more aeasilyandreadily removable from said package than heretofore.

Another object is to provide a container ,for

cigarettes or cigars with improved-.match-carrying means which obviate the objections found-at present with means of a similar character Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readilyappa-rentfrom a reference to the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheet of drawings where- 1n:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the article herein to be described and being partly 30 broken away and in section to'illustrate more clearly some of the details of its construction;

Figs. 2 and 4 are top and bottom elevational views, respectively, of the showing in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the lines 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a packet of matches in place on the article; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the article shown in Fig. 3 and showing said article inopen position.

In the figures there is shown a container or holder l0 which is preferably of rigid and wearresisting, though light Weight, material, such as sheet metal, Bakelite or any of the other well known materials characteristic thereof, and which is preferably capable of externally carrying a substantially permanent finish or coating for decorative purposes. The interior of the container or holder I0 is to be employed, preferably, for snugly supporting therewithin a package 12 of cigarettes or cigars and is, therefore, predeterminedly dimensioned in accordance with the size of said package, the size being substantially standardized at present, but said container or holder maybe employed for carrying the cigarettes or cigars in loose form; The container or holderl-il is selectively opened, 'for introducing thereinte or removing therefrom the cigarettes'or cigarsi-n either packed or loose form,

nor is selectively closed whensaidcontainer or .holderis notin use or being refilled, by means ofa cover I4, said'coverbeing shown, for the purpose of illustration, as'having a sliding fit with; thetop of said container or holder suchas by means of apair of laterally spaced beads t6 on said container or holder and a pair of flanges 18 in cooperation therewith on saidcover. In

the event of providing the slidable cover I4,

ratherthan one that is, say, pivoted to the container or holder 40, and because the interior of the latter'is dimensioned for snugly supporting packaged cigarettes orcigars, one end of said 7 cover shouldbe flat at its underside, as at 20,

in order that said cover maybe entirely removed from said container-or holder to facilitate the introduction of a-ful-l package 12 of cigarettes or :cigarsthereinto. Also, the opposite'end of the cover M- ispreferably provided with a flange 22 which cooperates with the container or holder In to limit the closing of said cover to a predetermined position therefor. In the event the container or holder I Dis to be employed for exclusively carrying cigarettes or cigars in packaged form, an opening 24 is preferably provided in thebottom Wall of said container or holder through which a persons finger may be inserted into contact with the package l2 for urging one or more cigarettes or cigars upwardly past the opened cover [4 and from the contents remaining in said package.

The container or holder I0 is operable, in addition to supporting internally the cigarette or cigar package l2, for supporting externally a packet of matches 26 of the usual folding type. This is accomplished by means of a pair of parallel, vertically spaced, slotted openings 28 and. 30 horizontally formed in the front wall of the wardly and downwardly directed to provide, firstly, the opening 28 through which the free end of the cover of the packet 26 may pass; secondly, a

guide for the passage of said packet cover when said packet is being assembled onto the container or holder I 0; and'thirdly, a back support for the upper portion of said packet. The upper wall of the lower opening 30 is similar to the lower wall of the upper opening 28, that is, it is in the plane of the front wall of the container or holder 10; but the lower wall of said lower opening is formed by a channel 34 which is integral with said front wall but inwardly directed from the plane thereof to provide a ledge or rest for the base of the packet 26 and is then upwardly directed from said ledge or rest to provide a back support for said base of said packet.

It will be noted that the slotted opening 28 formed between the flange 32 and wall of container or holder l permits little or no play between said wall and the packet cover when the two are assembled together, said opening being slightly greater in its transverse dimension than the thickness of said cover to facilitate entrance therethrough of the free end of said cover, and said flange thereafter and in combination with the effect of the channel 34 and the resiliency of said cover tending to bind the packet to said container or holder. It will further be noted that the vertical spacing between the upper wall of the lower opening 30 and the ledge portion of the channel 34 is slightly greater than the vertical distance between the lower edge of the packet 26 and the staple or other means employed for securing the matches to said packet so that said packet will be properly supported against downward displacement and properly prevented against upward displacement, both relatively to the container or holder It. It will be still further noted that the upwardly extending portion or back support of the channel 34, in preventing inward displacement of the lower end of the packet 26, assists the flange 32 in binding said packet to the container or holder [0 because said flange and said portion of said channel both cooperate to bind the back of the packet cover to the portion of the front wall of said container or holder intermediate the openings 28 and 30 therein. And, it will be noted that, when the packet 26 is in its proper place on the container or holder 10, the upper end of the flange 32 is in the plane of the front wall of said container or holder and disposed well below the top of the closed packet in order that the functions of the channel 34, flange 32 and portion of the container wall therebetween be performed.

It will also be evident from Figure 5 that the inwardly and downwardly directed flange '32, being formed of relatively rigid material, also exerts a detent action upon the cigarette package l2, enabling the latter to be easily inserted but resisting its withdrawal. This tends to prevent the package l2 from jumping out when the holder I0 is jerked to eject a cigarette, or from falling out if the holder is accidentally inverted with its cover off. The inwardly projecting ledge 34 also exerts a lesser detent action. Both detent actions can be overcome, however, and the cigarette package protruded by merely pushing the finger through the bottom hole 24 against the bottom of the package 12.

Although the invention has been described with some detail it is not intended that such description be definitive of the limits of the inventive idea. The right is reserved to make such changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will come within the purview of the attached claim.

What I claim is:

A combined holder for tobacco articles and matches comprising a container having a wall with a pair of substantially parallel spaced slots therein, and inwardly extending projections connected to said wall adjacent the mutually remote edges of said slots, one of said projections having a portion disposed substantially perpendicular to said wall whereby to provide an abutment for supporting the bottom edge of a match packet, the other projection beingsubstantially rigidly inclined at an acute angle to said wall in the direction of the other slot whereby to provide a guide for directing the flap of a match packet outwardly through the adjacent slot after it has been threaded inwardly through the remote slot along the inner surface of the wall.

MICHAEL L. P. HAGERTY. 

